Tech Giants Axe Russia-Linked Media Outlets

Tech firms from Facebook to TikTok and Microsoft moved Monday to curb the reach of Russian state-linked news outlets, which stand accused of pushing misinformation about Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, Glenn Chapman reported for Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Photo Insert: "We have also begun to demote posts with links to Russian state-controlled media websites on Facebook. In the days ahead, we will label these links so people who do see them will have context before clicking or sharing. We plan to take similar steps on Instagram as well," read the tweet of Nathaniel Gleicher, Head of security policy at Meta.

Social media platforms have become one of the fronts in the internationally condemned attack, home to sometimes false narratives but also real-time monitoring of a conflict that marks Europe's biggest geopolitical crisis in decades.

Facebook's parent Meta said it would be restricting access in the European Union to RT and Sputnik, which Western nations have accused of being Kremlin mouthpieces and serving as a platform to argue for war.

The social media behemoth's vice president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, cited the "exceptional nature of the current situation" in announcing the decision but offered no details. Hours earlier, Twitter said it would put warnings on tweets sharing links to Russian state-affiliated media.

Twitter's head of site integrity, Yoel Roth, wrote that the platform has been seeing more than 45,000 tweets per day that are sharing links to the outlets.

Video sharing app TikTok told AFP it had restricted Russian state-owned media access on its platform in the EU, while Microsoft said it was removing RT from its app store and would change its search engine Bing's algorithm to shift RT and Sputnik content to lower in results.

Netflix, which faced having to carry Russian state TV stations, said that "given the current situation, we have no plans to add these channels to our service."

The EU had already announced Sunday a ban on the two outlets broadcasting in member states, with bloc chief Ursula von der Leyen saying they "will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify (President Vladimir) Putin's war."

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